Job Discussion Forums

[marcus111]

Hi everyone. First time poster, but quite long time reader. My girlfriend and I are heading to China from February 2008 onwards and currently in the job hunt phase. Having not been to China previously our information is coming from word of mouth, forum research, google and from other people who have been there previously. I am hoping also that posting here may provide some great information, either by direct reply or pm.

I am also aware that this very post may give you incentive to eat me for breakfast, but please be assured that I have made good use of the search function to date 

Neither of us have degrees unfortunately, so we know outright this will limit what we might be able to do, but we remain hopeful. We both have our tesol qualifications and 8+ years experience working in business office environments so I would say quite considerably professional.

We initially were interested in Beijing and Shanghai for the obvious �western comforts� side of things � mainly to ease us into the whole experience and somewhat reduce the culture shock, however we know that without degrees this is practically now impossible so are looking at other cities. To date our list of potentials has been something like Xi�an, Chengdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Weihei(know someone there), potentially Nanjiong, Wuxi etc.

We are very interested in Chinese culture and both speak very basic mandarin. We hope to really improve on this. We are aware of varying levels of pay and mainly hope to land a job that provides the accommodation, as opposed to subsidizing it. We are not sure if we will be teaching long-term(beyond the initial 12 months), having come from the business world, yet being no stranger to training people, hope to really come away from China with a greater sense of the overall culture and people.

Can anyone kindly offer any recommendations as to what they perceive as good schools/companies to work for and even cities. We are really open to anything at this stage, but obviously would prefer it came recommended.

We are aware a large number of schools simply don�t have the means to advertise online, and this is something we really would like to explore further, but simply looking at a list of schools per location then googling them gives so many varied forms of feedback it�s really hard to tell the quality of them, and the fact some come up with absolutely nothing. Before cold contacting them, we�d definitely prefer some background.

If anyone can offer some firsthand advice as either a reply or PM it would be highly appreciated.

Cheers
Marcus

[vikuk]

[marcus111]

Nono i meant they provide an apartment in addition rather than say giving the 1500 rmb allowance towards it in addition, as not having been there yet, dont think we would be comfortable dealing with arranging it ourselves, dealing with bonds and leases and so on, when we have a bad enough time with some real estate agents here in australia!

There's no way i'd work purely for my lodging, volunteer style

[vikuk]

duhhhhhhhhhh - sorry please ignore my rotten post

[vikuk]

On a more informative note - a word of warning for any China wannabie - housing and the Chinese winter!!!!
North of the Yangtze buildings, by law, must have heating - but south of the river they don�t!!!!
So living in places like Shanghai and Chengdu (not south enough to enjoy warm winters and not north enough to come under the heating regulations), even though on paper the winter temperatures don't look that harsh be prepared for a basic apartment to be an Ice-box in winter. The locals get round this problem by living for months wrapped in at least 5 layers of clothing with the window s often open (this is no joke - its true) - and FT's might be in for a bit of a shock when they realise the amount of money they may have to fork out to keep themselves warm over a winter (utilities plus buying extra heating equipment)!!!
The first thing is to only accept apartments with air-conditioning - since, although expensive to run, these units can be used as heaters - and they will also be more than useful in keeping the apartment liveable/sleepable in the mid-summer. Because of their running costs I would just use this to get a room warm quickly - you need something cheaper to keep it heated over a long period (and the air-con heat is very dry).
We use oil filled electric radiators - these can be bought as cheaply as 400RMB - but there are a variety of alternatives - that give cheaper heat sources than the air-con.

I could now write a post on the apartment and planning for the summer - but as noted - air-con is also very useful here as well - especially if there's going to be 2 of you in a bed!!!!!

Anyways getting a nice place to live is one of the plusses that a lot of FT's like about China, and is something that has to be �right� if long term is part of your China plan. But I�m afraid even this formerly cheap luxury is shooting up in price together with the explosive rises in property values!!!!!

[johnchina]

There are some languge schools that have begun to offer courses of professional training in various areas of office work, like reception activities, negotiation skills, office management. These courses seem to combine language learning with skills development. You might consider checking this out given your experience. Check with schools called Dell and 21st Century. An online search might reveal more. Just an idea.

[Anda]

"Because of their running costs I would just use this to get a room warm quickly - you need something cheaper to keep it heated over a long period (and the air-con heat is very dry).
We use oil filled electric radiators - these can be bought as cheaply as 400RMB - but there are a variety of alternatives - that give cheaper heat sources than the air-con."


I use oil filled electric radiator beside which I have a plastic stand filled with absorbent cleaning cloths that I saturate with water. This keeps the moisture in the air and allows me to wake up with eyes that aren't dried out.

[danasandiego]

Noble English Training Center will screw you at every turn.

Not only do they force classes onto their teachers leaving no room for refusal, they do not fulfill their end of the contract. They constantly forced me into taking on more classes (under threat of financial penalties) even after I had made it abundantly clear that I did not wish to have any more students. When I tried to leave the company, giving an entire month's notice rather than the 2 weeks required, they took a third of my salary despite the fact that I was acting completely within my rights.

In addition, they pay non-Caucasian teachers 1/3 of what they pay the white ones solely on the basis of skin colour - while the students' fees are the same no matter who teaches them. Although this did not affect me personally, I felt it was worth mentioning.

This has been by far the most negative work experience of my life, not only in China but across the globe.